Guard for railway-cars



(No Model.)

S. B. CONOVER.

GUARD FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Patented Dec. 20,1881,

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I-JUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN B. OONOVER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSHUA SAWYER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GUARD FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,189, dated December 20, 1881.

Application filed May2,1881. Renewed November 22, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEPHEN B. CONOVER, acitizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Guards for Railroad-Cars, of Which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a guard for closing the space between the adjacent ends of two railroad-cars, and especially those cars having their ends rounded and their couplings pivoted at or near the middle of the cars-as, for example, on elevated railroads.

It is a well-known fact that the space referred to is a source of great danger to passengers on elevated railroads, and many attempts have been made to produce the required guard, one of the conditions necessary to its success being that it shall allow the corners of the cars to separate and approach each other, and also allow a lateral motion of the ends of the cars, asin passing over a curve. The guard obtained by my invention possesses the necessary requirements without complexity of construction or liability to get out of order.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan view, showing the guard applied to two cars,thelatter being on a straight track. 0 Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing one car on a straight track and the other on a curve. Fig. 3 is a side view.

Similar lettersindicale corresponding parts.

The letters A A designate portions of two railroad-cars, the ends of which are rounded, and whose coupling is pivoted at or near the middle of the cars in a well-known manner.

At the corners otthe cars, respectively, I arrange my improved guard, which comprises 0 what I term chafing-bars B, one end of which is pivoted to the car at a point inside of its corners, as at 5, and jointed arms 0, one end of which is pivoted to the chafing-bars, as at 6, while the other end is pivoted to the car at or near its corners, as at 7. Each of the chafing-bars B is subjected to the action of it spring, D, which has a tendency to force its outer end, 6, away from the car, and thereby to extend thejointed arms 0 to an approximately straight position, which is the normal position of such arms, being determined by stops F that is to say, these stops are arranged to allow thejointed arms to unfold outwardf cm a straightposition, but notinward. The length of the jointed arms 0 is about equal to onehalf the space left between the corners of the adjacent cars A A when the cars are in line with each other, and hence whenlhe cars are on a straight track, as at a station, the jointed arms of one car meet those of the other car, as shown in Fig. 1, while when the cars reach a curve and their corners approach each other, the ends of the cars at the same time describing a lateral movement, the bars B chafe or slide against each olher and are compressed against the action of their springs, th-us bending the arms 0 outward on their joints, as shown in Fig. 2.

The stops F are applied to thejoiuted arms O opposite to theirjoints, each half or portion of the arms having a stop which strikes that of the other portion; but the stops can also be arranged to act on the chafing-bars instead of the arms. The springs D, moreover, may be arranged to act on thejointed arms U instead of the chafing-bars B.or the bars may be made elastic and fixed to the cars, thus constituting the springs;

The chafing-bars B and jointed arms 0 are placed at or near the top and bottom oflthe 8o dash-board G of the cars, and the corresponding sections of the upper and lower arms are connected together by slats I, (best seen in Fig. 3,) whereby the whole is converted into a gate. The slats, however, may be omitted, 8 and in that case the number of the bars and arms may be increased; or a single bar and arm may be used and placed between the top and bottom of the dash-board or made of a width equal to the height of the dash-board; or such single bar and arm may be placed at the bottom of the dash-board and covered with a folding platform.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination, substantially as here-'' inbefore set forth, of the chafing-bars, (one or In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my more,) the jointed arms, the springs, and the hand and seal in the presence of two subscribstops, for the purpose described. ing Witnesses.

2. The combination, substantially as here- STEPHEN B. UONOVER. [L. s.] 5 inhefore set forth, of the chafing-bars, (one or Witnesses:

more,) the jointed arms, the slats connecting W. HAUFF,

the jointed arms, the springs, and the stops. CHAS. WAI-ILERs. 

